


A Terrible Idea

by yotoob



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-16 09:09:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18091496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yotoob/pseuds/yotoob
Summary: Room 201





	1. One Floor Away

**Author's Note:**

> @sckberry on twitter wanted some fanfic, I guess?

“This is a terrible idea. I know I’ve already said this, but-”

“Yes” Carolyn says, not lifting her eyes from the newspaper in front of her. “You have said that. Do you have any new points or information that you are bringing to this discussion?”

Eve rolls her eyes briefly. Through the train window, the scenery flicks by at a pace too quick for focus, until progress becomes a blur.

“No, I have no new points or information, I just-”

“So this is a feeling, is it?” Carolyn glances at her from the seat opposite, before leaning to her side and rummaging through her bag, producing a cough sweet after a moment. Eve bites her lip, refusing to rise to it.

“No - but I think that it would be…. we can’t rely on a plan that hangs on Villanelle suddenly behaving exactly as we want her to… as we would expect her to… that isn’t how she operates-”

“Do you have any knowledge of Hindu avatars? ‘Consort of Brahma’ - nine letters. The final letter is i.”

Eve sits back in her chair abruptly, and takes a sip of lukewarm tea. She feels like a violin string, pulled too tight and incapable of controlling her pitch. She tries to think. 

“Uh… Lakshmi? No, that wouldn’t have enough letters.”

“Mmmmm, no. And I think Lakshmi is paired with Vishnu…”

Eve waits. Carolyn taps at the crossword with her pen, thoughtfully.

The train judders, and then begins to slow almost imperceptibly. The outskirts of what must be the city of Bath grind by, remorseless. They are arriving. Carolyn sighs, and rests the paper on her knee.

“I am loath to go through this again. We were able to make contact with Villanelle whilst she was in a weakened state. Our offer of a shared endeavour seems to have intrigued her. The entire purpose of this whole… wild goose chase was ultimately to try and convert Villanelle into a workable asset for the British government. It is procedure to try a joint assignment together, to see if a practical working alliance can be forged…”

Eve closes her eyes briefly, and feels the urge to zone out. She has heard all this before, almost verbatim. ‘Weakened state’ is a new turn of phrase however. 

Eve’s search history on her phone reflects a recent uptick in her interest in the healing of stab wounds.

“…and therefore, in many ways, it doesn’t _matter_ if Villanelle behaves herself or not. This is a job interview, only. If she in unable or unwilling to focus on the matter in hand, then we have other operatives in the field who will complete the task. It will be regrettable, but not a disaster.”

Eve tries to fit the words ‘Villanelle’ and ‘disaster’ into the same sentence. It is depressingly easy.

She articulates her hope (her worry? She’s not sure.)

“I’d be surprised if she comes.”

Carolyn snorts slightly, and then returns to her crossword, shaking the paper with a flick to remove some unseen crease, and folding it into a neat square.

“Oh, I am sure she will. She was very keen to see you.”

Eve colours.

“That’s not, I mean, I’m sure that’s just…”

“And you definitely _did_ stab her, did you? I certainly would not be so enthusiastic to reunite with someone who had recently stabbed me.”

“Yes, I definitely did, thank you.”

“Well” Carolyn says flatly, “we must consider the possibility that maybe _I_ am the one with the unusual responses.”

“You must have misread her. She does not want to see me.”

Carolyn looks as though she is refraining from rolling her eyes, and she stands, tucking her newspaper into her bag.

“Of course she does - Villanelle only agreed to the joint operation because I promised that you would be present. Why on earth did you think I was bringing you?”

…..

The taxi ride to the hotel is very quiet. 

Bath is a beautiful city, but at this time of night, Eve can see very little of it. She has the impression of some grand buildings, a few lit up from below, but the rain on the windows blurs every detail, until she could be anywhere, she could be anyone…

“Have we…. have we considered the possibility that Villanelle might stab me?”

Carolyn takes a long look at her, eyebrows raised. 

“Stab you?”

“Yes. Maybe that’s why she is eager to see me.”

Carolyn seems to evaluate this, and takes an appraising glance at Eve, as though weighing up how someone like Eve could inspire the kind of emotional passion required to result in a stabbing. 

“Well. I would advise that you avoid any private face to face time with Villanelle. We have a security detail attached to us, to me, actually, but you are welcome to benefit from them. Equally, if you feel unsafe you are _allowed_ to leave. We’re very much relying on your own personal risk assessment here, you are the one in possession of all the startling insight into Villanelle’s mind.”

Eve is quiet for a moment. The taxi driver clears his throat softly, and notches his radio a little higher.

“It’ll probably be fine. As long as… if she does want to stab me she’d want to do it in private, so, I’ll just… stay with you. The security… or, yeah. It’ll probably be fine.”

“Jolly good” says Carolyn dryly.

…..

It becomes immediately apparent to Eve that Villanelle is already in the hotel.

“I thought you said we weren’t meeting Villanelle until the morning?”

“We aren’t” Carolyn says, bemused. The receptionist moves further down the desk, printing out their booking details.

“She’s already here.”

“How… how can you possibly know that?”

Eve motions with her head.

“Those flowers are from her.”

Eve refuses to be embarrassed by this… she _refuses_. 

“Those….what the ones behind the front desk?” Carolyn asks, sounding wary.

“Yes, I… I’m pretty sure they’re from her.”

Carolyn coughs. “And they are for you? She sent you flowers?”

Jesus. 

“I mean… they could be for you?” 

The flowers are for Ms Eve Polastri. Eve doesn’t allow her face to change at all as she accepts them. Carolyn stares impassively at them for a moment, and then turns away, taking their booking details from the receptionist.

“I see. Well. Hopefully there is a vase in your room. And you can thank her in the morning.”

…..

Hidden in the flowers is an envelope.

Inside the envelope is a number.

201.

A room number?

They aren’t supposed to meet with Villanelle until the morning. That would be the professional way to proceed.

But….

But?

201 is only…. one floor away.

This is a terrible idea.

…..

Villanelle opens the door quietly, and if she has a comment she wisely keeps it to herself. She stands to one side, as though inviting Eve in.

Eve’s heart is hammering, because, some how, she didn’t expect Villanelle to look exactly the same.

“This is…. off the record, you understand?”

Villanelle nods, because of course she does, oh of course.

Eve takes a cautious step inside, and then fumbles inside her jacket, producing a bottle of red.

“Uh” she says, feeling suddenly foolish. “This is… to say sorry?”

“For what?”

Eve motions vaguely, gesturing once at Villanelle’s stomach and then making a slight stabbing motion. Villanelle brightens.

“Ah, that. Yes, well. Thank you. Next time please flirt with me in a less painful way.”

“I was not _flirting_ you.”

“Oh, please.”

…..

She had _not_ been flirting with Villanelle. You don’t stab someone to flirt with them.

You flirt with someone by turning up at their hotel room unannounced with a bottle of wine.

Villanelle is by the window, peering out at the view and holding a glass of wine close to her chest. She’s wearing… just sleep clothes, Eve decides, just a t-shirt and a soft looking pair of shorts.

She still looks like a movie star. 

“This wine tastes like shit, did you spend less than ten pounds on my apology gift?”

“Yes” Eve says, calmly, drinking the shit wine because christ knows it’s not the flavour that she’s chasing.

“A ‘sorry I stabbed you’ gift for less than ten pounds? Do you have any idea how much the flowers cost?”

“Well, stop sending me flowers then.”

“No.”

“Fine.” Eve sighs, impossibly exhausted. Villanelle grins, finding something funny, and then she approaches Eve.

It doesn’t count, somehow. This doesn’t matter. Eve can imagine that this is an alternative time line, a lull between events, just a drink to steady her nerves.

Villanelle takes the glass out of Eve’s hand, drinking a sip even though she has her own drink still in her hand. She hands it back to Eve, and tips her head to one side.

“You shouldn’t really be here, should you?”

“No, almost certainly not.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because… I can’t get you out of my head and I can’t feel any kind of calm unless I’m looking directly at you, because then at least I know what the fuck you are doing.”

Villanelle blows her cheeks out, and then sits on the couch, two foot away from Eve. She picks up her own glass and takes a gulp, before offering it to Eve, as though in acknowledgement of the stolen sip from earlier.

“See, that is better flirting, telling me that you can’t stop thinking about me, I like it when you say that.”

Eve takes the glass from Villanelle wordlessly, and then knocks back the entire thing, setting it on the table with a sharp tap.

Villanelle blinks at her.

“Okay, I was enjoying that.”

“Oh fuck off” Eve says, before climbing into Villanelle’s lap, and kissing her hard.

…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, yotoob.tumblr.com, yotoob on the ko-fi place


	2. Just Once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nsfw I guess?

Villanelle knows exactly what Eve is thinking.

It’s not often, that she knows exactly what someone is thinking. Mainly because most of the time Villanelle cannot summon the interest to reflect on a worldview that isn’t her own for more than two minutes.

Other people are just so _boring_. They lead their little lives, they have their favourite book, colour, way they take their coffee, sexual position… and then they die.

“You can’t mention this, tomorrow. You can’t even reference it.”

“Sure” Villanelle says simply, because she knows exactly what Eve is thinking. And then she sits up, and pulls her top over her head, because she wants the feeling of Eve against her skin.

And then she continues to know exactly what Eve is thinking, because her eyes say it, and then her mouth.

“Oh fuck.”

…..

She knows exactly what Eve is thinking because it is the same pointless idea that Anna had been chasing, the first time they fucked.

Anna had even told her, as though Villanelle had wanted to hear that her teacher was just going to indulge _once_ , just lose herself _once_ to this madness, just succumb _once_ to this unholy desire she had for Villanelle, and then…

“And then what?” Villanelle had actually said, because Anna had been stupid enough to make this a verbal conversation.

“And then I’ll have got you out of my system, and then things can go back to normal.”

It had rather soured things for Villanelle, knowing that Anna essentially viewed her as a hard to shake strain of the flu, or something. Something to be endured, dealt with, cured. 

In fact Villanelle had nearly called the whole thing off, because Anna’s words had hurt. But then… oh she had been younger, and she thought she was in love, and she thought that maybe, if she could just make Anna feel everything that she was feeling…

She couldn’t.

Anna had always felt nothing but….. distaste. As though this was all Villanelle’s fault, as though it hadn’t been Anna who had kissed her first.

But Villanelle is older now. Wiser. And Eve is different. Villanelle cannot fully get a handle on _how_ Eve is different, but she senses it nevertheless. 

Anna would never have had the courage to _stab_ her.

Eve is thinking that this will be it. That they’ll fuck, and then…somehow that will stop Villanelle’s constant presence in Eve’s mind.

Poor baby.

Eve is possessive in bed. Villanelle wasn’t expecting it, but she likes it. She likes the way that Eve is constantly gripping her slightly too hard, encouraging her to move, or to be still, or _oh god will you just-_

She likes it. She wants the bruises on her hips the next day. She wants the teethmarks just below her collarbone to be higher, so that they’ll be exposed for all to see.

Eve is not like the other people that Villanelle fucks. She doesn’t stay still, for one thing.

Villanelle ends up using her body weight to press Eve down into the bed, and straddles her hips, before grabbing at both of her wrists and hauling them upwards, pinning them above her head just to still her.

Eve blinks at her.

“I should probably go.”

“Probably” Villanelle says, with a smirk and an almost mocking tone. Eve stays still, looking at her. 

Villanelle abruptly, surprisingly, feels very naked. And, yes, granted, it is because she is naked, but usually when she is naked she doesn’t feel so…. naked. Like her skin is just another set of clothes.

But this time, when Eve’s eyes roam over her body, it feels-

Villanelle is _not_ going to blush.

“Was that your plan then?” she asks shortly. “You fuck me, and then you fuck off?”

“I didn’t exactly have a plan…”

“No?”

“No.”

Villanelle stares at her for a long moment, and… oh. She just _wants_. 

__“You can’t just fuck me and then leave, what kind of girl do you think I am?”_ _

__It’s a joke, but Villanelle is still taken by surprise at how easily Eve grins at her. “Oh, I know exactly what kind of girl you are.”_ _

__And they’re just… smiling softly at each other, and Villanelle can feel the pressure on her heart like a vice. Eve gaze is gentle, as though she understands, as though Villanelle’s secrets are safe with her, and-_ _

__Villanelle gulps, and even that isn’t safe any more, because Eve seems to know what that means as well, and…_ _

__“I liked how you fucked me. I liked the way you used your mouth. I liked the way your hand was on my tits. I liked the way you looked at me.” Villanelle doesn’t want Eve to do anything other than listen to all the ways that Villanelle likes Eve’s actions, because that might distract her from all the ways that Villanelle - no, she isn’t even going to think it._ _

__“And I think that you should let me do all that to you” she finishes firmly. Eve presses her lips together, and rolls her eyes slightly, glances past Villanelle to the ceiling above her._ _

__“Well, I’m not exactly fighting you off, am I?”_ _

__Villanelle smiles again, and shrugs. “No, you are not.” She leans down to kiss her. “I was just checking” she whispers, far too softly._ _

__When Villanelle releases Eve’s hands, Eve doesn’t do anything other than stroke her palms over Villanelle’s shoulder blades, pressing up into her as they kiss._ _ And then Villanelle shifts off Eve’s hips, so that she can reach the angle required to gently work her finger tips over the wetness between Eve’s legs, Eve doesn’t do anything other than moan against Villanelle’s lips, and whisper _yes_. 

__

__….._ _

__

__That’s another way that Eve is different to Anna._ _

__

__When Anna had come, it was always with a kind of pained moral anguish. As though this was awful and Villanelle was doing all this to her _against_ Anna’s wishes, even as Anna had clung to her and wanted more, more, more-_ _

__

__Eve’s orgasm doesn’t arrive as an ethical crisis. Instead Villanelle senses nothing in her but relief, as though the wait had been killing her._ _

__

__….._ _

__

__It’s two in the morning._ _

__

__“I really should go now.”_ _

__

__Villanelle shrugs, aware that they are due to meet formally in about six hours time._ _

__

__“Okay” she says simply, because as much as the sex is incredible, it is also exhausting to be this close to Eve. The temptation to say something too vulnerable, too stupid, is almost inescapable._ _

__

__So Eve searches for her clothes, and Villanelle pulls the hair tie from her hair, and slips under the covers, cold in the air-conditioned room now that Eve has taken away her body._ _

__

__Eve, ready for public consumption again, approaches Villanelle cautiously, as though she doesn’t quite know the rules of the game now that she’s wearing clothes._ _

__

__Villanelle rubs a hand over her face, slightly worried to discover that she doesn’t know what the rules are either._ _

__

__“Thank you for the wine.”_ _

__

__Eve snorts at her, and then puts her hand beneath Villanelle’s chin, lifting her face to look her dead in the eyes._ _

__

__“Do _not_ refer to this tomorrow, okay? Especially not in front of Carolyn.”_ _

__

__And… it isn’t quite the same as _"this can never happen again, do you understand?"__ _

__

__Maybe Villanelle hadn’t known exactly what Eve was thinking. Maybe this doesn’t have to be a ‘just once’ situation._ _

__

__She nods._ _

__

__When Eve kisses her, she tastes like sex. Villanelle licks her tongue over Eve’s lips, and then leans away from her._ _

__

__“I can keep a secret if you can keep a secret.”_ _

__

__Eve rolls her eyes, and then smiles._ _

__

__“Deal.”_ _

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, yotoob.tumblr.com, etc


	3. Clarification

Eight am never sounded so obscene.

Eve needs about two more years worth of sleep, but when her alarm buzzes she obeys, levering herself out of bed with a groan and dragging herself to the bathroom.

Hotel showers always seem to be in need of an exorcist. Eve messes with the controls until something like warm water is being produced, and then gets in, letting it cascade over her.

After a moment, she looks down at herself, checking for…bruises? A sign that she is somehow indelibly changed?

Her skin looks as it always has. And really, what did she expect? Eve has no memory of Villanelle doing anything close to creating a mark. If anything, it was probably Villanelle with the bruises, Eve remembers clearly the way that her fingers tightened on her too smooth skin, the way Villanelle had gasped when Eve had bitten down on the rise of her collar bone, bitten down hard for a moment, because she was angry but she was also just-

That probably had left a mark. Eve wonders what shape it is, whether Villanelle will let her see it, let her touch it…

The shower decides that now is the time for a drop in temperature. Eve supposes that she should be grateful.

…..

Okay, compartmentalisation.

Last night, that was… off duty Eve. That was something that she and Villanelle had been building to for a while, and was an inevitable collision between two people who knew exactly what they were doing.

Off duty Eve had really just needed to fuck Villanelle. It was just… that was just the way it was. 

(She’d needed to _be fucked_ by Villanelle as well. God, Eve had known it would be good, but she hadn’t anticipated the sheer-)

Anyway, that was all off duty Eve. A summer storm after months of pressure. Clear the air, all those things that people say in situations like this.

However, this morning is about professional Eve. She is here, to be professional, next to Carolyn, and professionally… well, be bait, is essentially what Carolyn had said yesterday. Be Villanelle bait. But _by god_ she was going to do it professionally, and she was going to wear her most sedate looking brogues, and generally be extremely professional and not at all focused on whether she left any visible marks on Villanelle’s body last night.

…..

She meets Carolyn by the elevator. Carolyn nods at her in greeting.

“Good morning…how did you sleep?”

Eve gulps, and then her mouth decides to scrawl free form poetry onto the air. 

“Well, very well, well enough anyway, ahaha, mattress was pretty firm, and the pillow too soft, but I’m alive, so - uh. I slept well. How about you?”

“Fine.”

As they enter the hotel bar, Carolyn waves over two people.

“…and, this would be our security, I suppose…”

The security detail turns out to be two plain clothed officers, one called Martha, and the other called Simon. 

As Eve stares blankly at the bar menu, she finds herself wondering whether Martha could conceivably be Villanelle’s type. She’s a bit younger than Eve, with a wise face and hair that is probably quite impressive when loose. She spares no attention to Simon, who is tall and broad and probably reasonably useful in a rugby scrum.

Villanelle appears by Carolyn’s elbow, with an almost disconcerting lack of fanfare.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello- is that a wig? Are you in disguise?” 

Villanelle shrugs, and then blows a strand of artificially dark hair out of her face. “Yes?”

“Why?”

“Why not?” Villanelle flags down the waiter. “I will have two espressos and a glass of water.”

Eve can feel the effort that Carolyn dedicates to not responding to Villanelle’s casual use of camouflage. “Very well. Thank you for coming. This is Simon, and Martha. And you remember Eve, I’m sure.”

“Sure.” Villanelle nods politely at her, before sitting back in her chair, as though she didn’t have her tongue in Eve’s mouth less than ten hours ago. “So how does this work? What are you expecting me to do? And how are you going to pay me?”

…..

Carolyn has the plan printed out. 

Villanelle flips through it, asking Carolyn pointed questions to do with procedure and process and timelines. Martha and Simon sit at the table next to them, clearly unsure whether they’re supposed to be scanning the room for a threat, or watching Villanelle for a threat.

Eve just… sits there. 

What else is she supposed to do? She already knows the proposed plan, the targets. But she also knows that Villanelle is extremely unlikely to stick to the actual plan, so memorising it feels like a waste of time.

Villanelle is wearing an Oxford shirt with the top couple of buttons undone. It is maybe, one size too big for her, and Villanelle has rolled the sleeve cuffs up neatly, so her forearms are exposed. 

She’s wearing glasses today for some reason, but seems to get bored of the prop quickly, because she pushes them up onto the top of her head after a couple of minutes of peering through them at the paper work.

The angle of her shirt, of the skin at her neck… when Villanelle leans forward the shirt creases slightly, and there’s… is that a mark, or is it just a shadow? Eve feels her mouth moisten.

She has to look away.

After ten minutes, Villanelle pushes her second espresso towards Eve. 

“Drink it, it is for you.”

“Oh, uh-”

“You look tired.” Villanelle glances at her, her face completely neutral. Under the table, Eve can feel Villanelle’s foot nudge into her leg.

“I’m fine. But, uh. Thank you.”

Carolyn turns to her.

“You haven’t said thank you for the gift from last night?”

Eve freezes.

“Last night?”

“Yes, you know. The flowers.”

“Oh, right. Yes.” Eve turns to Villanelle, extremely aware that she is a terrible actor. “Thank you for the flowers.”

Villanelle tilts her head to one side in a small acknowledgement. Carolyn clears her throat, seemingly having decided that Eve is somehow being rude.

“I thought they were very nice.”

Villanelle smiles politely, before her eyes slide back to Eve.

Eve’s heart rate increases. She bites the inside of her cheek, and nudges at Villanelle’s foot, just enough to make Villanelle retreat back into her own space.

Before anyone can say anything, Eve opens her mouth, inventing a question about the plans.

“Actually, I was hoping for a bit of clarification on the initial contact-”

…..

After another fifteen minutes, Carolyn phone buzzes, and she stands and moves away from their table to take the call.

Eve says nothing, instead pretending to be extremely interested in the notes. Three feet away, Simon and Martha sit, bearing witness.

“How did you sleep?” Villanelle asks quietly, for all the world as though she has no idea. Eve rolls her eyes slightly.

“Just fine. You?”

“Also well.”

“Good.”

Villanelle sits back in her chair, looking supremely at ease. Just out of Eve’s eye line, Carolyn paces. Eve watches the way that Villanelle watches Carolyn, watching where her attention is, as though waiting for an opportunity to-

Villanelle’s fingers reach up to her own shirt, and then she’s dragging the material sideways, just by half an inch, until Eve can just see the faint mark on Villanelle’s skin. Just below her collar bone. Evidence of where Eve’s mouth has been.

She bites her lip, but accepts the invite, allows herself to look, feeling dirty and unprofessional and god so fucking _alive_.

When Eve looks into Villanelle’s eyes again, she’s met with a stare that near turns her inside out, and how easy would it be, to just grab Villanelle hand, lead her upstairs, and fuck professionalism at this point - who’s even keeping score any more?

And then Villanelle’s eyes flick sideways, and she smiles at Simon, who is watching them from three feet away.

Simon doesn’t smile back. 

Villanelle leans towards him, as though sharing a secret.

“You know that she stabbed me once?” she asks, indicating towards Eve with a smile.

“Jesus” Eve whispers to herself, wondering if it is too early to order a Bloody Mary.

…..

Carolyn ends the call, and approaches, looking annoyed. 

“Slight change of plan - the Peels aren’t arriving until later this afternoon apparently. And it would seem their proposed meeting is now at an unknown destination, they’ve canceled their booking in the restaurant. Villanelle, can I request that you watch their arrival from your hotel room, as you know we’ve allocated you a room with a view of the entrance to their accommodation across the square… they should be here at any point from 4pm onwards.”

Villanelle nods, and then says “I want Eve to watch with me.”

Carolyn blinks, and then looks at Eve.

“Why?”

Villanelle flaps a hand. “Company. I will get bored. She can help me stay focused. We can use the time to catch up.”

Carolyn considers this for a moment, and then says “…fine.”

Now it is Eve's turn to blink. “What?”

“Simon will just be outside the room. Or he can be in the room if you like; you’ll have to excuse the lack of trust here Villanelle, I’m sure you understand.”

Villanelle shrugs, looking reasonable.

“Of course.”

Eve sighs, and then pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Simon can wait outside the room - I’ll yell if she is too much of a dickhead.”

“That’s the spirit” Carolyn says cheerfully. 

…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, yotoob.tumblr.com, etc


	4. Unprofessional

It’s boring.

Villanelle is bored. She’s bored, she’s bored…

She rolls on to her back, and stares up at the ceiling.

“I thought that working for Mi5 would be exciting, dangerous, maybe people would hide in wardrobes, there would be snacks, cups of tea-”

Eve snorts.

“Yeah, no, that doesn’t happen. Well, the cups of tea do, but only if you make them for yourself. This is pretty high on the scale of offered excitements, for the record. Usually you are required to sit at a desk, and complete reports.”

Eve is sitting by the window, and she’s looking out of the window, she has been looking out of the window for nearly an hour now, and Villanelle is _bored_.

“You should do a crossword - there’s probably one in that newspaper. Carolyn was doing one for the whole train journey.”

“Nope.”

Villanelle rolls onto her stomach again, and rests her chin on her forearms. She looks at Eve, waiting for Eve to look at her.

Eve doesn’t.

Villanelle starfishes on the duvet for a second, stretching out her limbs and groaning softly. 

Eve still doesn’t look at her.

Villanelle tries again.

“You look nice.”

Eve glances at her, rolls her eyes, and then drops the volume of her voice.

“I said no flirting.”

Villanelle pouts, but whispers back.

“How is it flirting to tell you that you look nice? That is just… complimenting. Building your self esteem.”

“My self esteem is fine, thank you.”

Villanelle smiles, and then captures a lock of her own hair, holding it up to the light and inspecting it for split ends. She whispers again.

“Eve, you should tell me that I look nice. That is how a compliment exchange works.”

“Your self esteem needs no help…”

Villanelle grins to herself, and then drops her head, pressing her face into the mattress.

Eve fucked her on this bed last night. Villanelle feels… warm.   
She looks up again.

“Why are we whispering?”

Eve rolls her eyes, and then gestures at the door. She drops her voice even lower.

“Because of Simon outside the door, who is there to make sure you don’t kill me. I don’t want him to hear.”

Villanelle pulls a face.

“You know I am not going to kill you. You could tell him to go away.”

“But then he’ll report to Carolyn, and she might ask questions.”

“So?”

Eve just looks at her, as if this should be obvious. And then she carries on.

“I don’t want him to hear you _flirting_ with me.”

“Why not?”

“Because he might… tell Carolyn, and I don’t want Carolyn to know.”

Villanelle sighs. Carolyn appears to be the sort of person who literally could not give a shit about any of her employees personal lives beyond the scope of whether it impacts on their effectiveness. 

But she tries a different tack. 

“He’s probably asleep.”

“He would not-” Eve pauses, noticing that her voice is getting louder, and readjusts. “He would not be asleep, he is a professional.”

“And I’m not allowed to compliment you, because _you_ would look unprofessional?”

“Yes.”

“Goodness; heaven forbid.” Villanelle whispers, in her best, cut glass English accent. Eve glowers at her, and then gestures out of the window.

“Well, someone has to be looking out of the window, and I’m still waiting for you to take your turn, so-”

Villanelle sighs, and then rolls off the bed. She approaches the window that Eve is sitting at, and looks down into the square. 

“Where are we supposed to be looking?”

“The hotel lobby opposite. Waiting for the targets’ arrival, and getting a handle on who they arrive with to get a sense of what kind of protection they travel with, if any.”

Villanelle leans her forehead against the cold glass.

“What if they arrive using a back entrance?”

Eve looks at her briefly.

“Why would they do that?”

“So that people like us couldn’t see them?”

Eve seems to mull on this for a second, and then looks back down at the square. 

“Carolyn will have people on the other entrances, I’m sure.”

“Sure.”

Villanelle sits on the window sill, resting her back on the adjoining wall so that she is facing Eve. She makes no effort to look out of the window, but instead just looks at Eve, enjoying the daylight on her face, the way her clothes fit.

After a second, Eve snorts, and returns to looking out of the window.

“You are not much help, do you know that?”

Villanelle bites her lip, wondering…

“Do you want to see it again?”

Something about the way that Eve manages to go from still to stiller tells Villanelle that she’s found a weak spot.

“Don’t.”

“Look, the light is better here-” Villanelle says, reaching up. She adjusts the collar of her shirt, pulling it down and sideways, until the mark Eve left on her skin last night is exposed again.

And…. now she has Eve’s attention.

Eve is looking at her. Her eyes watch the movement of Villanelle’s fingers dragging over the mark. Villanelle hisses slightly as she digs her nails in, enjoying the slight accompanying sting.

She smiles. “Do you like looking at it?”

Eve swallows. _Aha_ , Villanelle thinks. She continues, speaking slowly.

“I like looking at it. A lot. I touched myself this morning whilst staring at it in a mirror.”

“That’s… okay.” Eve swallows again, and rubs a hand over her face for a second.

“Do you need me to start whispering again?” Villanelle asks solemnly.

Eve drops her head, and gives a little half laugh. “I need you to do a whole bunch of things right now…” 

Suddenly Villanelle feels… it isn’t quite rejection. But she isn’t used to being this easy to resist.

“Why are you fighting it? If you want me, then-”

Eve sighs, and then straightens slightly in her seat.

“Because I have a job to do.”

Villanelle watches her for a moment, trying to decide…

“If there wasn’t a job to do…. would you be fucking me right now?”

Eve doesn’t answer immediately, but the pause doesn’t mean that Villanelle is anything other than completely unprepared for the straightforward way in which Eve just says “….yes.”

Oh…kay.

“Do you prefer looking out of the window, or looking at me?”

Eve appears to bite the inside of her cheek, and then returns to staring out of the window.

“I _prefer_ looking at you. I _have to_ look out of the window.”

“No you don’t. There’ll be someone else watching as well. There is no way Carolyn would trust me to complete this job without having a back up plan. This is just… a little test for me. And you.”

“ _You_ are a little test for me.”

Villanelle reaches down, now smiling, and undoes one of the buttons on her shirt.

“And would you say that you are failing or passing that test right now?”

“Will you…stop doing that.”

Villanelle stands up, standing next to Eve, stands a little too close-

“You could do it for me?”

Eve laughs, sounding helpless.

“Oh jesus, you really are relentless, aren’t you… I should have asked Simon to be in the room.”

“You think that would stop me?”

Eve reaches a hand up to her cautiously and it’s the first sign Villanelle has had that she isn’t _completely_ uninterested. Eve lets her fingers brush against the bottom hem of Villanelle’s shirt, before twisting the loose material around a couple of her fingers, and tugging slightly.

“If you could just… take a cold shower or something, _jesus_ … there’ll be time later-”

“No. I can’t.”

“Sure you can, it’s fine, it’s not like you’re actually being helpful here-”

Villanelle nods out the window.

“No, I can’t - they’ve arrived.”

Eve’s gazes snaps back to the window, and her eyes narrow as two people get out of a taxi at the hotel opposite. 

“Shit… shit okay did you see anyone else arrive before them?”

Villanelle shrugs, and then turns away from Eve, putting on her jacket.

“No. I’ll ask them, shall I? I’m going to go say hello to them.”

“Wait, what? That isn’t the plan.”

Villanelle shrugs, enjoying the look of alarm in Eve’s eyes.

“The plan is boring. I’m adapting it. See you later. Maybe take a cold shower?”

…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, yotoob.tumblr.com. yotoob on ko-fi.
> 
> NO SPONSORSHIP THIS TIME AS I'M HOPING TO QUALIFY FOR THE OLYMPICS


	5. Regrettable Exchanges

Eve had said that this was a terrible idea.

She has extremely clear memory of doing so, she had said to Carolyn, on a number of occasions, that this was a terrible idea.

Relying on Villanelle? Building a plan around Villanelle’s cooperation? Might as well build a plan on a wisp of smoke. Build a plan on a drop of ink in water. She knocks hard on Carolyn’s door.

Because whilst Villanelle is instinctive, and flamboyant…. reliable? Predictable? These are not key features of her personality.

Carolyn seems to have built herself a small office in her room. There are papers all over the bed. BBC news is playing muted on the tv. Carolyn’s laptop is leaning against the hotel kettle.

Carolyn sighs, and takes a sip of tea.

“She did what?”

“She… when the Peels arrived, Villanelle said that she was going go and say hello to them.”

“That was not the plan.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Carolyn stands up, and steps over to her window, shifting the blind so she can peer out of it. “And…. you didn’t stop her? Distract her?”

Eve holds her hands in the air, incredulous.

“Distract her? How do you propose I do that?”

Carolyn flaps a hand at her vaguely.

“You know… improvise. The whole point of you being here was to-”

“What?” Eve asks, low and dangerous.

“Keep her on side.”

“I am not her handler, jesus I don’t have some kind of magical-”

“I am not asking for a magic trick, but some fore-warning would have been useful-”

“I did fore-warn you, I said repeatedly that this whole thing was a terrible idea!”

“And so you knew it wouldn’t work, but you just decided to come along anyway? Were you just hoping for an opportunity for a cosy catch up with Villanelle?” Carolyn is glaring at her now, and her voice is withering with sarcasm. Eve feels her hackles rise.

“Oh fuck off.”

There’s a moment’s pause.

Carolyn pinches at the bridge of her nose, and returns to her desk. She picks up her phone, and starts typing.

“Okay, shall we just… rewind those last few seconds of regrettable exchanges, and focus on the matter in hand. Do we know where Villanelle is?”

Eve sighs. “Not with any certainty. She said that she was going to greet the Peels, but… I can’t guarantee that.”

Carolyn nods. “Did she give any indication of whether she would be greeting them… in order to broadly stay in line with our objectives, or to inform them of our plans?”

Eve tries to remember Villanelle’s demeanour just before she left, but it was difficult… Villanelle had been trying to get Eve to kiss her, and then… she just switched. “No, I mean…. she was bored of what we were doing. She’s just looking for entertainment.”

“And what would be entertaining for her? Tricking the Peels? Or offering her services to the Peels?”

“Uh…. probably tricking the Peels. Probably.”

Carolyn stares at her for a long time, and then sighs.

“I see. Well. I suppose we shall just have to wait to see how the cards fall. Not ideal, but that would seem to be where we are.”

…..

Some of the cards fall at eleven pm at night.

There’s a soft knock on Eve’s door. 

“Oh, you decided to come back, did you?”

Villanelle shrugs with one shoulder, and produces a bottle of wine.

“It took me a long time, but I finally managed to find a bottle of wine that cost less than five pounds - can you believe that central Bath doesn’t enjoy shitty cheap wine?”

…..

The wine tastes like paint thinner.

“I’m drinking this to be polite, you understand.”

Villanelle smirks, and raises her glass towards Eve in a vague toast.

“Amber Peel drinks gin and tonic with a lemon twist.”

“What would you like me to do with that information?”

“Mull it over. Report it to Carolyn. You know.”

The tv is playing what looks like a rerun of Country File. Eve watches it with only a peripheral awareness of what is happening.

She’s sitting in her chair. Villanelle has draped herself across the bed. 

Something about the way Villanelle still has her boots on is annoying Eve.

“Carolyn doesn’t trust you any more.”

Villanelle shrugs. “She didn’t trust me at the beginning.”

“She worries that you have offered your services to them. That you are going to try and play both sides. That would be the sort of thing a dickhead would do.”

Villanelle snorts slightly at that, and then sighs.

“I’m sure you argued that I was being smart and making friends in order to improve our intelligence on them.”

Eve grunts. “No, I mainly argued that we can’t use you as an asset because you are never going to stick to a plan.”

“Oh.” 

“And I don’t think that new information about how Amber Peel prefers her drinks is going to win Carolyn over. Why the fuck were you even drinking with her?”

“Are you jealous? Do you think I have betrayed you all?”

“Is it even betrayal if you were never loyal in the first place?”

There is a long pause, in which Villanelle drinks half a glass of terrible, terrible wine, and Eve sits in her chair, staring blankly at the tv screen and fuming. 

She’s angry.

Eventually, Villanelle rises from the bed, and comes to stand over Eve. 

Eve doesn’t look at her.

“Should I go back to my room?”

“You should do whatever you want.”

“It is nicer in my room - I think I’m in a more expensive suite.”

“Probably.”

“Okay, I will go.”

…..

More of the cards fall after midnight.

“Oh. It’s you.”

“Yeah” Eve says, striding into Villanelle’s nicer room without an invite. She rounds on her the moment she hears the door click closed.

“Look, this is never… the barriers between you and I finding any kind of… peace are just so insurmountable I can’t believe I’m actually allowing myself to consider them, but- _shit_ things become even more problematic if you can’t even follow simple instructions for a day? You just had to stay put? But now Carolyn doesn’t trust you, and so there’s no way that she’d be interested in keeping you as an asset, and that means that she doesn’t need me to chase you any more, and there’s no reason for me to keep on trying to track you, and that means-”

Villanelle is suddenly right in front of her. Close, so close, a hand breadth away.

“You are angry with me?”

“Yes, you moron.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you, and I think you like that, but you do things to make it harder for me to have you.”

Villanelle seems to consider this for a moment, and then blinks slowly, latching on to the thing that matters least.

“You want me?”

Eve nods, helpless.

“Yes. All the time.”

Villanelle kisses her.

….

Eve remembers about her scar, this time.

Villanelle lets her put her mouth on it, lets her run her lips over it, lets her bite the skin just above it.

“ _Fuck_ , Eve…. don’t stop doing that, I like it-”

She’s almost…. annoyingly perfect, and Eve wishes that she could maintain some kind of irritation with her, but-

When Eve puts her mouth on Villanelle’s tits, Villanelle arches up into her, and moans “god, Eve, please-”

It’s almost enough to forgive her. 

…..

Eve doesn’t even know why she was annoyed in the first place. Being annoyed with Villanelle for being unpredictable feels a bit like being annoyed with water for being wet.

Wet…

Villanelle rolls Eve, and straddles her, completely naked, as though the half light image of her body isn’t enough cause Eve’s brain to flatline.

“Do you still like me? Even if I am working for the Peels?”

That’s…. it’s off duty Eve who speaks.

“God yes… god-”

Villanelle takes one of her hands, and kisses the palm, before pulling it towards her stomach. 

“Fuck me like this, please.”

Jesus, it’s such a… for some reason it’s the polite ‘please’ that really ruins Eve.

When Eve pushes into Villanelle’s warmth, Villanelle’s eyes flutter close, and she bites her lip. And then she leans back, as though inviting Eve to watch, as though inviting Eve to see everything that Villanelle is offering her, everything that she could have…

When Villanelle starts rolling her hips down onto Eve’s hand, it’s Eve who moans.

“Oh, fuck, baby-”

Villanelle’s eyes snap open, and she bites her lip, reaching out a hand to Eve’s face, and running her thumb over Eve’s lips until Eve can’t do anything but let her in. Villanelle hums slightly when Eve sucks on the tip of her thumb, once.

“This is good, isn’t it?”

Eve almost rolls her eyes, but instead rolls her hips upwards, enjoying how Villanelle’s breath hitches, enjoying how Villanelle abruptly moves her hand away from Eve’s mouth, and grabs at her own breasts. She pinches a nipple, and gasps slightly.

“God… yeah, this is really good.”

Villanelle smiles slightly, but she’s distracted, riding her hips in a more focused way now, as though searching… reaching…

“You won’t… _fuck_ \- you won’t stop liking me, will you? Even if- _fuck_.”

Eve remembers that she has a thumb, and presses it to a spot that has Villanelle gasping again.

“No, I won’t… fuck, I don’t think I _can_ stop…”

“Good… oh god-”

It’s probably a little too honest, but… Eve has been a little too _everything_ , ever since she first saw Villanelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> yotoob.tumblr.com, @yotoob on twitter


	6. Good Vibes

It’s morning.

Villanelle is in her bed. Across from her, Eve is sleeping.

Villanelle is…pretty sure that Eve didn’t mean to fall asleep here. She rolls on to her side, trying to move as gently as possible, because she knows that when Eve wakes up she is going to go from nought to disaster in about five seconds flat, and Villanelle really doesn’t want that to happen just yet…

Eve’s hair is loose. Villanelle’s fingers flex.

She glances at the clock again.

It’s eight thirty two. And that isn’t late, exactly. The day has barely begun. But Villanelle has a feeling that Eve might want to be somewhere else.

She sighs regretfully, and then whispers “Eve.”

Nothing.

“Eve.”

Nothing.

“Eve, did you die?”

There’s a small grunt. Villanelle bites her lip, grinning.

“You want breakfast?”

Another grunt, slightly more focused.

“You want me for breakfast?”

At this Eve’s head lifts, although Villanelle cannot see anything of Eve’s face because her hair is acting as her own personal blackout curtain.

“Wha-? Oh, _shit_ -”

Villanelle rolls onto her back, smiling to herself as Eve catapults herself out of bed. She addresses the ceiling airily.

“Good morning Villanelle, how did you sleep, yes I slept very well, thank you for asking-”

“Jesus… where… where the fuck is my bra?”

Villanelle considers for a moment, and then extends her arm in the direction she remember from last night. She continues talking.

“Thank you very much for letting me sleep in your bed, and letting me fuck you in your bed, and fucking me in your bed, I had an extremely pleasant time and-”

‘Could you please shush?”

Villanelle sits up, faking alarm.

“Is Simon in the wardrobe?”

Eve glares at her, and flips back a corner of the covers. Villanelle yelps a little as the cold air hits her bare legs. Eve retrieves her top from underneath Villanelle’s foot, and hauls it over her head. She blinks, and then winces.

“Oh shit, that wine was really bad.”

“Your jeans are over there” Villanelle says helpfully. Eve grunts in thanks.

“Were you… trying to throw my clothes as far away as possible?”

Villanelle smirks, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

“Yes, of course.”

When Eve has enough clothes on, she heads for the door.

And then she turns around and comes back. Villanelle sits forward, hugging her knees towards herself. She rests her cheek on her forearms.

“Did you forget me?”

Eve snorts, and then presses her index finger against Villanelle’s lips firmly.

“Shh.”

Villanelle’s lips quirk, and then she opens her mouth quickly, capturing Eve’s finger with her teeth. She presses down for a moment, and then releases her. 

“Fine. But only because it’s fun watching you try to keep a secret.”

…

It’s as Villanelle is leaving her room, that she realises Eve has left her phone on the bedside table.

Villanelle grins to herself, and pockets it.

…..

“Good morning everybody.”

God, Villanelle has never known a woman with a greater poker face than Carolyn. Villanelle is pretty certain that she would have been obsessed with Carolyn if she’d met her first, not in the same way as she is with Eve, but Villanelle just…she doesn’t understand how the woman doesn’t have any emotions on her face asides from a mild disinterest, at everything. At Villanelle. How?

Villanelle smiles at her, and then smiles at Eve, and then smiles at everyone, throwing around good vibes indiscriminately.

“Eve, you left your phone in my room.” She sets it on their table, sliding it across a fraction. Eve picks it up.

“Oh, uh. Uh.”

“When you were looking out of my window.”

“Sure, okay. Thanks. I was looking for that.”

Carolyn briefly looks as though she simply hasn’t got the time to pretend that she doesn’t know that Eve and Villanelle are fucking, but then takes a sip of her water.

This is another thing that Villanelle likes about Carolyn. Carolyn knows. She must know about them. She is not an unintelligent woman. 

But Villanelle is enjoying how far backwards Eve is bending to keep things a secret, and so continues with the illusion.

“How did everyone sleep?”

Carolyn leans forwards, resting her forearms on the table.

“Villanelle, I won’t pretend that your behaviour yesterday doesn’t change matters slightly.”

Villanelle shrugs, pulling out the chair with more noise than is necessary.

“Which part of my behaviour?”

“The part when you went completely off radar and entered the targets’ hotel.”

“I was bored” Villanelle says, looking pointedly at Eve. Eve rolls her eyes and looks away. Villanelle smiles, and then looks back to Carolyn.

“I was bored, and you said that the entire window exercise was intelligence gathering, so I went to gather intelligence.”

Carolyn sits back in her chair, and folds her arms. 

“You understand that we cannot use view any of this intelligence as ‘reliable’. You are not a reliable source.”

Villanelle pulls a face.

“Well no, obviously. I am not reliable. But you’ll listen to me anyway, I’m sure.” 

…..

Carolyn does seem reasonably interested in Villanelle’s description of the security that the Peels seem to travel with, the rooms that they both occupy, and their plans for the next few days. 

“Oh, and Mr Peel has a weakness for women far too young for him. And Ms Peel drinks gin and tonic with a lemon twist.” Villanelle grins at Eve as she delivers this last piece of information, and then sits back in her chair, feeling pleased with herself.

Carolyn makes a brief note on her phone, and then nods, clearly trying to dismiss her. 

“You are no longer a part of our plans, which means I need the table back.”

Villanelle pointedly doesn’t move.

“Oh, because none of what I just gave you was useful?”

“How am I supposed to consider anything you say as reliable?”

“I am here, aren’t I? I could have stayed in their hotel, their hotel is much nicer.”

Carolyn’s eyebrows flicker, and she glances at Eve. 

“Nevertheless, after only one afternoon under new supervision, you deliberately go against the outlined plan, despite your superior telling you not to.”

Villanelle pauses, and stares at Carolyn. Slowly…. helplessly… she starts to grin.

“Eve is my _superior?_ ”

Some internal valve of Carolyn’s must be under significant pressure, because Carolyn coughs slightly.

“Yes.”

Villanelle can’t… she glances at Eve.

“Well, this puts a different spin on things.”

…..

Carolyn takes another phone call.

“You are my superior?” Villanelle whispers, leaning across the table towards Eve. Eve flips her fingers at her in a vague gesture of dismissal. Villanelle widens her eyes. 

“I am shocked…you are my superior…. and you have used your position of power…. to _seduce_ me?” Villanelle allows a small note of outrage to creep into her voice. Eve rolls her eyes.

“Shhh.”

“I cannot believe, in this Me Too age, that I have fallen victim to-”

“Will you _stop-_ ”

Villanelle laughs, and raises her voice slightly, calling across to Simon.

“Simon can you believe-”

Eve kicks her under the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, yotoob.tumblr.com


	7. Daylight

Eve would like, very much, for Villanelle to do what she is told.

Once. Just once. For one entire day, if Villanelle could just behave herself, then maybe-

“Would you like me to tell you what it is like to kill people?”

Villanelle is in her bedroom again. Carolyn had finished their morning meeting by telling Eve that a reformatting of the plan would be required, and that she would be spending the afternoon working on that. And that meant Eve had the afternoon to herself, and that meant… Villanelle appeared.

“No, not really. I am not interested.”

“Why not? Have you killed anyone, before?”

“No.”  
“Have you ever nearly killed someone? Have you ever stabbed someone and then worried about whether they’d died from their wounds afterwards?”

Eve looks levelly at Villanelle, (who once again, is on _Eve’s_ bed, lounging across it as though it’s hers) and then looks away, out of her window again.

“You know I have.”

“I don’t know if you were worried about me?”

“I was worried about you” Eve concedes. Villanelle hums, sounding happy.

“I bled everywhere. Like a gutted pig. But you missed all my main organs - next time if you are trying to kill someone you must stab upwards, try to get to the lungs.” Eve can see out of the corner of her eye that Villanelle makes the accompanying, violent gesture.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you.”

Villanelle grins, signalling her victory.

“So you _were_ flirting with me.”

Eve snorts, and then glares at Villanelle.

“Are you always going to be like this? Either trying to seduce me, or trying to piss me off?”

Villanelle shrugs.

“It’s not a binary choice. I’m actually aiming for both at the same time.”

“You know, when I have conversations with my husband we don't engage in this constant oneupmanship. We talk about things like what we want for dinner, the weather, what’s on the television…”

There is a small pause, and then Villanelle says, in a completely different tone of voice “What is… one up man ship?”

Eve blinks, remembering all of a sudden that English isn’t Villanelle’s first language. Which is a ridiculous thing to forget about, considering the heavy roll of her accent but- 

“Um, it’s like, having a conversation as though there are points available for the winner. Trying to… oh just being a smartass, basically.”

“One-up-man-ship…” Villanelle lies back on Eve’s bed, thoughtful, hands behind her head. “One up man ship… is it all one word?”

“Yes.”

Villanelle tilts the other way, quick as lightening. “And how is Niko?”

“Fine” Eve says, already regretting bringing him up.

“And you prefer talking about the weather? You would like to do that with me? Dinner, and what is on the television?” 

“No” Eve says, stubbornly.

“What is it that you want, Eve?”

“I don’t know.” Eve groans slightly with the realisation of how true this statement is, and puts her head in her hands.

“You want me. You said so, last night. You want me all the time.”

“Yes, but just because I want something doesn’t make it…. practical. Workable. Doesn’t make any of this easy.”

“Practical…” Villanelle turns the word over in her mouth slowly, as though she has never heard of such a thing. “…. you thought I would just come and work in your office? We could make out next to the photocopier?”

Eve scoffs “No, obviously not-”

“Well then what? And why are we not fucking right now? You do not have a window to watch?”

“Oh my god you are impossible, can you not see that if you don’t at least make an attempt to behave for Carolyn, then we’re never going to be able to have anything like a chance at spending time together-”

Villanelle laughs slightly, and then stands up quickly, moving slightly too fast for Eve to be fully prepared. She squats next to Eve’s chair, and gazes at her. 

“Please stop waiting for me to behave. It is not going to happen. And you would like me less, I think.”

“You don’t know that.”

Villanelle pulls a face at her.

“I have no intention of working for Carolyn. I just came to see you. And you already knew that, please don’t act surprised.”

Eve feels her own eyes roll, in an automatic response, even as her heart sinks.

“But if you could just pretend for a little bit longer, then we could have more time together…”

“But the longer I stay, the less you like me… it is very tragic” Villanelle says, not looking stricken at all. 

“That’s not true” Eve whispers, although how can she be so sure? Maybe it is true. Villanelle shakes her head.

“No, it is true. I must always be out of reach. You must always be chasing. We must meet only occasionally, for mind blowing sex, and then I must disappear again.”

“Well that sounds… exhausting. And… difficult. And… sub-optimum.”

“You should kiss me now. Whilst you still have the chance.”

…..

“Please don’t stop liking me” 

It’s a whisper only, and it doesn’t have any business etching it’s way onto her heart.

“How?” Eve finds herself asking. “How could I stop?”

Villanelle stretches slightly on the bed, and Eve watches the spacing of her ribs, the ways they shift beneath her skin, soft rises of contrast. 

“You are a determined woman Eve. I worry that you could do anything if you put your mind to it.”

Eve traces a finger over Villanelle’s stomach, enjoying the slight curve of it, and the contrasting perfection of her scar.

“Can I fuck you again?” she finds herself asking, and it’s an impossible, shameless question, one that Eve Polastri would never ask, but-

Villanelle is already spreading her legs. But she grabs at Eve’s wrist, before Eve can send her hand lower.

“I never enjoyed weakness before.” It arrives as another whisper. And there’s something about the way she says it…

….

It’s still daylight.

“I can’t remember the last time I had sex in daylight.”

“Well, then your husband is a terrible man, what kind of lover doesn’t want to see their lover in daylight?”

Villanelle’s skin is-

Eve bites her lip.

“Daylight looks good on you.”

“Everything looks good on me.”

“Modesty wouldn’t.”

Villanelle tips her head to one side, considering.

“No, modesty wouldn’t.”

When Villanelle kisses between Eve’s breasts, and then moves her mouth sideways to bite gently, Eve moans lowly. Villanelle grins up at her, looking delighted.

“Daylight looks good on you too.”

“Shut up.”

“Can I fuck you with my mouth?”

“Why do you even need permission, you know-”

“Permission is important” Villanelle says solemnly, wriggling downwards and flipping her hair over to one side so that it tickles at Eve’s thigh. Eve sighs restlessly, aware of how wet she is, aware of the daylight.

Villanelle must know.

“Daylight looks good on you” she repeats, before licking at Eve once, with the flat of her tongue. “Everything looks good on you” she continues, and then opens her mouth, covering Eve’s wetness with her lips and slowly... _oh_.

Jesus… Eve’s so close already.

“You look good on me.”

Villanelle raises her head again, looking serious.

“Yes - I look best of all.”

…..

“I will be sad, when you stop liking me.”

Eve reaches out to her, cupping her face.

“I’ve told you, I’m not going to stop.”

“You might. I am not behaving as a good employee should.”

“Will you stop-”

“Stop?”

“No, don’t stop doing _that_ , I meant-”

“I know what you meant” Villanelle says quietly, and kisses the inside of Eve’s wrist.

…..

Eventually, there’s less daylight.

“I need to go.”

Eve rolls onto her stomach, and props her head up on her hand. “You don’t” she says, hopeful.

“I do.” 

Villanelle dresses carefully, efficiently. She is utterly unconcerned with her body, with her nakedness, but Eve supposes that they are a bit beyond that now.

“What are you going to do?”

Villanelle shrugs, sitting on the bed to do up her laces.

“The opposite of what Carolyn would want me to do. Is the overall aim to arrest the Peels? For being bad people?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m going to go and make that difficult.”

“Why?”

Villanelle hesitates, and then says “…because it might be fun. Because I am a dick. Are you going to go and report on me?”

Eve stares at her.

“No…” she eventually says. “No, I’m going to shower first. And then I might report on you.”

Villanelle smiles, doing up the final buttons on her shirt.

“You are giving me a head-start - that is nice of you. You do like me.”

“You know I do.”

Villanelle finishes getting dressed, and approaches to kiss Eve.

“Goodbye.” 

Eve fists her hand in the front of Villanelle’s shirt, already knowing that this ‘goodbye’ from Villanelle is to cover more than just a few hours.

“Don’t die” she whispers, voicing the never-ending worry. The never-ending, haunting, heart gripping, devastating fear. 

Villanelle smiles at her.

“Why would I do that?” she whispers, kissing Eve as though she could mean it.

…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, yotoob on tumblr


	8. Under the Radar

Villanelle is bleeding.

Shit…. she’s bleeding a lot.

She grits her teeth against the pain in her shoulder that comes from hauling herself up the fire escape, and swears when the blood running down her arm makes her fingers slippy, loosening her grip.

And the exertion is failing her legs, and the adrenaline will only last so long, and fucking hell it would have been better to have not been gouged open, overall. That would have been a better outcome.

The fire escape door is propped open by a tiny sliver of hard plastic, which Villanelle would have thought of as lucky had it not been her who had arranged it as such (because there’s confidence, and then there’s just been fucking stupid. It pays to plan for problems, some times).

This wound isn’t enough to kill her, she knows. Hell, it isn’t even that deep. But it is long, and is producing a lot of blood as Villanelle uses a great deal of energy to avoid capture.

At some point soon, she is going to have to stop, and rest, and put consistent pressure on the wound to get it to stop bleeding, and maybe eat a lot of chocolate, and sleep, and-

In short, though this wound couldn’t kill Villanelle, it could definitely get her captured.

(Two inches difference and the broken glass would have severed one of the main arteries in her neck. And that would definitely have killed her. But Villanelle has been closer to death than two inches before.)

She presses hard on her wound to avoid trailing blood all down the corridor, and then knocks on Eve’s door.

Eve’s voice comes through the door, sounding slightly frantic.

“Carolyn, I know, I’ve seen the blue lights, I’m coming as fast as I-” Eve hauls her door open, and then freezes, blinking at Villanelle.

“Jesus… _jesus-_ ”

Villanelle summons a smile from somewhere, aware that she must be grey faced, sweaty, covered in blood from the neck down…

“I’m sorry, I did not have time to buy a bottle of wine-” and her voice sounds weak, and then suddenly her knees feel weak, and then things go dark.

…..

The light is really bright.

It’s really bright.

There are voices somewhere.

If she could just… she moves her hand to cover her eyes.

It’s less bright. But now… jesus she’s uncomfortable.

When she shifts, her hand meets hard porcelain as the pain flares all through her upper torso.

She grunts, and then… she’s in a bathtub?

Automatically, her hand goes to her wound, but she can’t touch the skin, she’s met with a thick towel, that is damp with blood.

Villanelle presses against it, suddenly aware of the slow throb of blood still escaping her body.

There are voices.

After a moment’s effort, Villanelle’s fuzzy brain attaches names to the voices. 

Eve. And Carolyn. At Eve’s hotel room door.

“Eve, we really do need you downstairs.”

Eve’s voice sounds artificially level. “You know Carolyn, I’m not sure this is the moment when you need me.”

“If we find Villanelle then I would imagine that having you with us will be vital.”

“Carolyn-”

“Eve…. Eve? Why are you…. why is there blood all over your hands?”

There is a very long pause. Villanelle… doesn’t know how she would run. Doesn’t know if she could run.

Eve clears her throat. “Carolyn, if… is the overall aim to have Villanelle available as an asset for you to use? Correct me if I am wrong, but would be better for us, for you, if she escapes, and is contactable in the future? So you could try again?”

There is an even longer pause. And then Carolyn says, as if allowing a great concession “…yes.”

“Rather than Villanelle in prison awaiting trial for whatever the fuck she has done now?”

“Yes.”

Eve speaks firmly.

“Then I would advise that you don’t need me, and you really don’t need to know why there is blood on my hands.”

There is a long pause, the longest of all. And then Villanelle hears Carolyn cough. 

“Do you… is medical assistance required beyond what you can cope with?”

“No, I don’t think so. Just a bit of time and space.”

“Very well- that’s probably for the best. Things become… difficult to keep under the radar if other professionals are involved.”

“I understand.”

“Very well. I suppose I had better get to the crime scene. If you could… if you happen to see Villanelle could you please let her know that she is really is an insufferable dickhead. That one is from me personally, do you understand?”

Villanelle grins faintly, and closes her eyes again.

…..

She becomes aware of a different sort of pain. And aware that it has been going on for a while.

“Ow… ow? What the fuck are you doing?”

“Stitching you together. Keep still.”

“Wha-” Villanelle cranes her head, but she cannot reach the necessary angle to see. “Are you a trained health care professional?”

“No. I watched a video on youtube. Keep _still_.”

“Is that…. why are you using green thread?”

“It was all I had available - I’m afraid it’ll sting when you pull it out once this has healed.”

“Yeah, that’s going to hurt like a bitch. _And_ green is a really bad colour on me - _ouch_!”

“That was the last one, stop whining.”

Villanelle leans her head back on the bathtub, and sighs. 

“How… how did this happen?”

“Oh… well I killed Mr Peel. But as I was- before I killed him, he smashed a glass and stabbed it at me, I moved, but he caught my neck. Bastard. If I had had more time I would have taken one of his eyes, but I was constrained by events.”

“Did you…. what about Amber Peel?”

Villanelle shrugs, and then immediately regrets it as the pain flares.

“Shit, _fucking…_ ”

“Stay _still_.”

“…hell- no I left her alone. I like her. He was slowing her down.”

“He was her brother.”

“She hated him. Families, huh?”

Eve doesn’t say anything. Villanelle watches her face to nullify the pain, watches the concentration as Eve ties off the knot.

“It’s long, but it isn’t deep. You should be okay.”

“I’ve had worse. You’ve given me worse.”

Villanelle’s clothes are… covered in blood.

“Oh jesus this top is ruined. I liked this top.”

Eve sighs, and sits back on her heels, looking…. 

“Eve, you look like shit.”

Eve glares at her, and then reaches up behind her, onto a shelf, producing what looks like all the snack options from her minibar.

“Here… you should eat these. And then wash. And then sleep.”

…..

Eve helps her wash. Villanelle sits on the bathtub edge, feet in the tub, and Eve dips a cloth into warm water from the sink, rinsing away the dried blood. The pinkish water runs over her calves, and pools around the plug hole.

Villanelle watches Eve’s hands, the way they move gently rising away her own blood as though all things are only temporary.

“Eve… I am sorry.”

Eve clenches her jaw, and doesn’t look at her.

“No you aren’t, if you were sorry you wouldn’t do shit like this.”

Villanelle mulls this one over, before concluding that she may have a point.

“I am glad I am alive then. I am glad I am here with you.”

Eve sighs, and then her lip wobbles. And then she suddenly rests her head against Villanelle’s good shoulder, seeking out comfort. 

“I was so worried…I’m glad you are alive too, although that doesn’t stop me from thinking that you are an absolute _asshole_ , just the worst-”

Villanelle wraps one arm around Eve’s body, and squeezes gently.

“What a pair of fuck ups we are” she mumbles, in a half sing song sort of way. Eve’s shoulder’s shake slightly, and then she kisses the corner of Villanelle’s jaw.

“Stop making me like you.”

“I don’t know how to do that. I don’t want to do that.”

Eve sighs again, kisses her again, and then returns to her work.

…..

The cut is _long_. Villanelle pouts at herself in the bathroom mirror, before wrapping herself in the hotel dressing gown.

“Eve… will you still like me if I am covered in hideous scars? Because this one will last, I think.”

Eve motions at the bed.

“You should lie down, you need to rest.”

Villanelle does as she is told, wrapping the dressing gown around her more securely, and lying down. 

Eve looks at her for a moment, and then returns to looking out of the window.

“I don’t have the same view here, so I can’t see the hotel opposite as well, but there are a lot of officers there, they’ve closed off the street-”

Villanelle doesn’t care.

“Eve-”

Eve seems to know exactly what she is going to ask, because she rises, and then clambers onto the bed with Villanelle. Villanelle rolls onto her side, and then wiggles closer as best she can, until Eve relents and allows Villanelle to rest her head on her shoulder.

“You should sleep.”

“Yes” Villanelle whispers, softly, already dropping.

…..

When she wakes up, it’s dark.

Eve is speaking. Villanelle is confused for a fraction, before she realises that Eve has taken a phone call.

“I can’t… okay. Carolyn, I understand. Okay. Yes, she’s… it’s all fine. I’ll be there in a bit.”

Villanelle stretches cautiously, assessing her body. It feels… okay. Sore, tender… but no alarm bells. If she is careful with herself she should be fine to move.

“You have to go?” she murmurs. Eve nods.

“Yeah… Carolyn has covered for a while, but there is no way…. I should be down there, otherwise people will start noticing, and asking questions, and-”

“I understand” Villanelle murmurs, echoing Eve without intending to.

“You should stay here.”

“No, you know I can’t do that. I need to go. Leave Bath. Rest. And you need to go back to London.”

Eve doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and then sighs, pressing a kiss to Villanelle’s temple.

“I will miss you.”

Villanelle smiles, and then nods.

“I will miss you too. But I am sure you will find me again. And this has been a very nice romantic mini-break.”

Eve grunts in half laughter, and then readjusts herself, until she can kiss Villanelle properly.

“Carolyn told me to tell you that you are a dickhead.”

Villanelle grins against her lips, and kisses her back.

“Please tell her that I look forward to working with her again soon.”

Eve kisses her again, and knots their fingers together, briefly.

“Don’t be too difficult to find, please.”

“I doubt I’ll try at all” Villanelle breathes, already missing her.

And then Eve is gone.

…..

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Thank you to @sckberry on twitter (ao3 user @berrysck) for the motivation to write something!
> 
> @yotoob on twitter, tumblr, and ko-fi (if you are so inclined)
> 
> NOT LONG TO SEASON 2 NOW XX


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